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2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

D. B. STROUSB.

TUBE MACHINE.

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(No Model.) 2 Asheets-sheet 2.

D. B. STROUSE. TUBE MACHINE.

No. 529,426. Patented. Nov. 20, 1894.

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UNITED STATES PATENT DEMETRIUS B. STROUSE, OF SALEM, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNORTO THE BONSAOK MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

TUBE-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,426, dated November20, 18494. Application filed October 14,1893. Serial No. 4881128. (Nomodel.)

To all whom zt-may concern:

Beit known that I, DEMETRIUs B. STEoUsE, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Salem, in the county of Roanoke and State of 5 Virginia,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Devices forFolding Strips of Paper or other Material for the Manufacture of Tubes,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the 1cdrawings accompanying and forming a part of the same.

The present invention relates to adevice for folding over the edges of astrip of paper or similar flexible material in such manner 15 that theopposite folded edges of the strip when brought together to form a tube,can be inserted the one into the other and secured by crimping,indenting or otherwise to form a -completed seam.

The invention consists of a channel of sufficient width and height toreadily permit the passage of the strip to be folded and of foldingguides located upon either edge of such y channel and constructed andarranged to z5 turn or fold the edges of the strip to forni upon oneedge a double fold or lap and upon the other edge a single fold or lap,the folds when completed lying upon the same side or surface of thestrip. For convenience of con- 3o struction it is preferred to make thefolding device in two nearly equal parts, a portion of the foldingguides being attached to each of these parts and the parts beingproperly secured together.

A device containing my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a plan view of the upper face of thelower part of the device, the re-enterin g 4o flanges of the upper partbeing shown in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the entire device. Fig.3 is a plan of the lower part of the device, showing the strip inposition and its edges in the process of being folded. Fig. et 45 is acentral longitudinal section through the line @c-x of Fig. 2. Figs. 5 to12 inclusive are cross-sections on the lines 5 to 12 respectively ofFig. 3, with the upper part of the device superimposed. Fig. 13 is across-section 5o of the strip with its opposite edges folded. Fig. 14 isa cross-section of the strip bent into tubular form with the folds ofits opposite edges brought into proper engagement with each other toform the seam. Fig. 15 is an enlarged View of the completed seam; and 55Fig. 16 shows a modification of the device for pressing the lapped edgesdown upon the body of the strip.

In the drawings A represents one main part of the folding device, whichis arranged in the 6o drawings as the lower part. B represents the upperpart thereof. The part A is preferably provided with edge anges a sorelated to the undersurface of the part B that when the latter issuperimposed it will rest upon the flanges a and form a low channel orpassageway b between the inner surfaces of the two parts A and B. Thischannel maybe ot' any width to accommodate the width of the strip to befolded. The part A is preferably provided with recesses in its margininto which flanges CZ on the part B t to prevent the two parts frommoving lengthwise relatively to each other. The part A is also providedupon one of its edges with folding guides e andf, and upon its oppositeedge with a folding guide g, these guides beinglocated relatively to theside walls of the chaunelb so that the edges of the strip will be foldedover as hereinafter described and shown in the drawings. The part B isprovided with an edge folding guide h located slightly in the rear ofthe guide f when the parts A and B are superimposed. These guides areall preferably semicircular and taper in the direction 0f the passage ofthe strip and are inclined toward the medial line of the channel b, sothat the edges of the paper will be gradually more and more folded as itpasses through the guides.

For convenience and economy of construction, the main pieces A and B arestruck from sheet metal, the flanges a and recesses being properlyformed, and the folding guides af, g and h are formed in separate partsand secured to the main pieces by brazing, soldering or Otherwise. Theparts thus formed may be held together r,by clamps, screws or otherdesirable means.

The operation of the device is brieli y as follows: A strip 0f paper cor other similar material is introduced through the channel B, itsopposite edges being threaded through the IOO folding guides @,f, g andh. This threading is more conveniently done byV removing the pieces Aand B from each other and when the threading is completed superimposingthem as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. As the paper strip is drawn orfed through the channel B by hand or any other desirable means, the edgeof the strip contiguous to the folding guides e, f and h will be foldedby the action of these guides as shown in Figs. 6 to 10, inclusive, andbe brought into substantially the shape shown in cross-section at theleft hand of Fig. 13. The operation of the guide e to make a single foldis shownin Figs. 6 and 7. This edge of the strip, having then a singlefold or lap formed upon it, is operated upon by the guide h t'o fold thesingle lap in an opposite or downward direction, as shown in Fig. 8,after which the guidefoperates to still further turn the single laptoward the body of the strip to form a double fold as shown in Figs. 9and 10, the double fold being formed upon the opposite side -or face ofthe strip from the single fold which is shown in Fig. 7. The oppositeedge of the strip will be folded by the guide g as shown in Figs. 11 andl2 and brought into the form of a single lap or fold, as seen incross-section at the right hand of Fig. 13.

It is preferred that the guide q should be narrower than the guides eand f, that is, it should not be set inwardly from the edge of the paperso far as the last named guides, in order that the free end of the lapmade by the guide g may be narrower than the lap formed by the guides eand f for the purposes hereinafter more specifically described.

It is desirable to flatten down the folds made in the edges of the stripand two forms of pressure device for this purpose are shown, one inFigs. '2 and 4 and the other in Fig. 16. The former consists of a sheetmetal spring D attached to the piece B and having its free end restingupon the surface of the piece A with sufficient force to press down'andflatten the folds formed upon each edge of the strip so that when thestrip is bent into tubular form the folds will retain their shape andthe single folded edge can be readily slipped into the double foldededge when the same is slightly opened out either by the iingers of theoperator or by any automatically operating device, and the oppositeedges of the strip being thus engaged can be then secured into acompleted seam. The other form of pressure device shown in Fig. 16consists of a pair of rollers, one of which is preferably positivelydriven, located in front of the folding device and operating to presstogether the folds of the edges of the strip, these rollers, in additionto pressing the folds together, having the capacity to assist to feed @rdraw the paper through the folding device.

Strips of paper or other similar material having their edges folded as Ihave indicated by being passed through my device, may be brought intotubular shapes and their opposite edges brought into engagement witheach other and the engaged edges secured together into a complete seamby hand or by the use of any means or devices adapted for this purpose.A strip of this paper so folded is especially advantageous for wrappinga continuous filler of tobacco to form a continuous cigarette, the stripbeing continuously wrapped around the filler by the use of well knowndevices, and its edges being progressively and continuously brought intoengagement with each other by inserting the single folded or lapped edgeinto the opening made in the double lapped or folded edge and the edgesthus engaged being secured together by crimping or indenting devices toform a completed seam.

A paper strip having its edges folded as above described by passing itthrough my device, may also be used in the manufacture of individualcigarette wrappers by bringing the same into tubular form, bringing theopnosite fo'ded edges into engagement with each other and securing themtogether by crimping, indenting or otherwise, and then cutting the'continuous tube into short pieces and stuffing it with compressedtobacco. I do not, however, wish to limit my device to the folding ofthe edges of strips of thin paper for cigarette wrappers, as it may beused for the preparation of strips of paper of greater thickness in themanufacture of tubular structures for many other purposes.

An examination of the strip c, when it is folded as described and itsopposite edges engaged with each other as shown in Figs. 14 and 15 ofthe drawings, shows the following relation of parts: first, that theseam thus formed is made up of ve thicknesses of paper, which number isconsidered far more desirable than two or three thicknesses, to form aseam by crimping or indenting the parts together; second, that the edgeflaps s and t of the folded strips are arranged to form the interiorpart of the seam, which results from arranging the double and singlefold to lie upon the same side or surface of the strip and then bringingsuch strip into tubular shape as shown in Fig. 14, and, third, that theedge flap s of the single fold is narrower than the edge iap t of thedouble fold, so that, when the folds are brought together and the singlefold is inserted into the double fold as shown in Figs. 14 and 15, theflap t of the double fold will overreach the flap s of the single fold,and when the parts are properly secured together the Iiap s of thesingle fold will be inclosed in a pocket formed by sealing the free edgeof the flapt of the double fold upon the part contiguous thereto.

I do not wish to limit my invention to the exact constructionhereinbefore described and shown in the drawings, as it is evident thatconsiderable changes in the locations and shapes of the folding devicescan be made IOC IIO

without departing from the principle of the invention.

What is claimed as new is l. The combination, substantially as describedand shown, in a strip-folding device, of a channel or passage throughwhich the strip can be passed and curved guides e, 72, and f arrangedupon one edge of the channel and adapted to fold one edge of the stripin the following manner: guide e to gradually fold the edge of the stripinto a single lap or fold, guide h to gradually fold the single lap inan opposite direction, and guide f to continue the folding in theopposite direction and complete the double lap or fold. Y

2. In a strip-folding device, a channel for the passage of the strip,curved guides e, 71, and f arranged upon one edge of the channel andadapted to fold one edge of the strip in the following manner: guide eto gradually fold the edge of the strip into a single lap or fold, guideh to gradually fold the single lap in an opposite direction, and guide fto continue the folding in the opposite direction and complete thedouble lap or fold, in combination with a guide g arranged upon theopposite edge of the channel and adapted to fold the opposite edge ofthe strip into a single fold or lap lying upon the same side of thestrip as the said double fold or lap.

3. In a strip-folding device a channel for the passage of the strip,curved guides arranged upon one edge of the channel and adapted to foldone edge of the strip into a double fold or lap, in combination with acurved guide located upon the opposite edge of the channel constructedand arranged to fold the opposite edge of the strip into a single fold,whose edge flap s is of less Width than the Width of the edge ap t ofthe double fold on the opposite edge of the strip.

4. A device for folding a strip of paper or similar flexible materialinto a double fold or lap upon one of its edges and a single fold or lapupon its opposite edge, consisting of two plates A and B arrangedrelatively to each other to form a channel b between them for thepassage of the strip, folding guides e and f secured to one edge of theplate A, and guide h secured to the corresponding edge of plate B andlocated between guides e and f, to form one edge of the strip into adouble fold, and a folding guide g secured to the opposite edge of theplate A to form the opposite edge of the strip into a single fold,substantially as and for the purpose described.

DEMETRIUS B. STROUSE.

Vitnesses:

S. D. MCCOMMON, D. G. ARMSTRONG.

